On the weekend of September 27-28, Archbishop Michael made an archpastoral visit to the parish of St. John the Theologian in Shirley, NY.

Saturday night Vespers was well attended with nearly 40 present, and featured a compelling and inspiring talk by His Eminence on the canonization of St. Olga of Alaska. A time for extensive and substantive Q&A followed during a reception in the parish hall.

Sunday morning saw the liturgy filled to overflowing, with the largest attendance seen for a hierarchical visit in decades with well over 80 present. During the liturgy, the Archbishop conducted the Rite of Reception of Catechumens at which time eight adults, one teenager, and one child were enrolled. Just as many if not more inquirers and catechumens' family members were also present, and all enjoyed a delicious luncheon prepared by our parish Sisterhood of St. Xenia of Petersburg. The overflow crowd from upstairs became the overflow crowd downstairs, and the time was well-spent between the Archbishop and numerous new members of the community, especially the newly-enrolled catechumens. Many expressed the joy and profound gratitude they experienced by having the Archbishop enroll them, and have begun their catechumenate under the direction of Fr. Jonathan and parish Catechist, Robert Sirico.

One note about the day: It was clear from the attendance that this was the largest contingent of Hispanics attending the service in parish history (since roughly half the newly-enrolled catechumens are Hispanic), and some, albeit limited, Spanish was used in the service. Some of those attendees welcomed hearing Spanish in the liturgy, and expressed a desire to return and learn more about the Orthodox Faith.